| They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. | Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to do so. |
| For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good. | For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good. |
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| I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. | I rejoice in the Lord with all my heart; my soul exults in my God. For he has clothed me in garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of saving justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a garland or a bride bedecked with her jewels. |
| Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were. | Hear my prayer, O Lord; do not be deaf to my cry or ignore my weeping. For I am a wayfarer before you, a nomad like all my ancestors. |
| As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. | Just as water reflects one’s face, so does one human heart reflect another. |
| And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. | When you pray do not go on babbling endlessly as the pagans do, for they believe that they are more likely to be heard because of their many words. |
| The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. | Anyone who is victorious will be dressed like these in white robes, and I shall not blot his name from the book of life. Rather, I shall acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and his angels. |
| I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. | I also ask that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing. They should be adorned not with braided hair or with gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is fitting for women who profess their reverence for God. |
| Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. | In much the same manner will wisdom be sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will not be cut off. |
| Till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. | Until a spirit from on high is poured out upon us, and the wilderness becomes an orchard and the fruitful field becomes a forest. |
| Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. |
| Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. | Every good act of giving and every perfect gift are from above, coming down from the Father of all light. With him there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. |
| But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. | And yet he is aware of everywhere I go; if he were to test me, I would emerge like pure gold. My footsteps have not strayed from the path he established; I have followed his way and never turned aside. |
| Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” | But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” |
| And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. | This water prefigured Baptism, which now saves you. It does so not by the washing away of dirt from the body but by the pledge of a good conscience given to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. |
| They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” | While he was departing as they gazed upward toward the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white robes stood beside them, and they said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” |
| Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. | Therefore, take care to live as intelligent people, and do not be like those who are senseless. Make the most of the present time, for this is a wicked age. |
| He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. | He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. |
| Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. | Can anyone withhold the water of baptism from these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? |
| May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. | May the God of perseverance and encouragement grant that you may live in harmony with one another, following in the example of Jesus Christ. |
| So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. | In everything, deal with others as you would like them to deal with you. This is the Law and the Prophets. |
| If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. | If he refuses to listen to them, report it to the Church. And if he refuses to listen to the Church, treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. |
| This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. | The birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. |
| You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. | You are the light of the world. A city built upon a mountain cannot be hidden. |
| The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” | But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised, as he promised he would be. Come and see the place where he lay.” |
